Whale Sends 500 Billion SHIB Tokens to Defunct Exchange Hotbit

The crypto-verse is full of mysteries. The actions of whales play a significant role in the crypto ecosystem, as they help the community monitor substantial transactions that have the potential to impact the market. While whale movements are frequent, there is one specific transaction that has captured the attention of the entire community. A crypto whale moved billions of Shiba Inu [SHIB] tokens into an exchange that recently announced its shutdown.

A significant crypto whale executed a notable transaction by transferring an astounding amount of 499.62 billion SHIB to the Hotbit crypto exchange. What makes this move even more astonishing is the fact that the whale had remained inactive for a prolonged period of 7.5 months before making this transfer.

Surprisingly, this whale has a remarkable return on investment [ROI] of over 200%. This was due to its decision to liquidate its holdings of SHIB, which were purchased at higher prices in 2022.

SpotOnChain, a market tracker, has revealed that the latest transfer made by the whale has a value of $4.24 million. This was calculated based on a price of $0.0000085 per token. The market tracker further shed light on the whale and tweeted,

Since that epic clearout, the whale had focused solely on re-accumulating $SHIB.

However, $SHIB price has been on a persistent downtrend since late 2021.

This may have influenced this whale to exit its position now. pic.twitter.com/doYQpMR9lt

— Spot On Chain (@spotonchain) May 26, 2023

But why is this massive Shiba Inu transaction suspicious?

Hotbit has indeed been generating significant attention recently, primarily due to its sudden and unexpected closure. Having operated for a little over five years, Hotbit had managed to accumulate a substantial user base of five million. However, earlier this week, the exchange made an announcement on Twitter, declaring its decision to terminate all its operations as a centralized exchange [CEX].

It’s time to take a bow 🙇
For 5 years and 4 months, the Hotbit team has been proud to participate in a wonderful crypto show with 5 million users. However, it is with great regret that we have made the decision to stop all CEX operations from May 22, UTC 04:00. We kindly ask all…

— Hotbit News (@Hotbit_news) May 22, 2023

Hotbit’s management team has brought attention to the recent crises that have impacted the crypto industry. According to Hotbit, these events caused a significant outflow of funds from their exchange and had a detrimental effect on their cash flow. Hotbit attributed these challenges as contributing factors to its decision to cease operations.

Additionally, Lucie from the Shiba Inu network warned the SHIB Army of encountering potential losses on the exchange. The crypto influencer said,

“I don’t recommend using @Hotbit_news exchange to buy $BONE or at all. @Hotbit_news listed $BONE Shibaswap under their own name ShibaBone [ERC-20] and people who accidentally bought “fake” Bone coins [BEP21] can’t magically withdraw. This is really fraudulent behavior”

The timing and circumstances around the transfer, along with Hotbit’s closure, have led to questions and speculation within the crypto community.